A monolithic dome house is for sale in Maine. The artist who helped design her homeshowed us around.
"Home Sweet Dome" is the motto for the owners of one unique house in Kennebunkport, Maine.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom, monolithic abode features a massive cement dome and, as of this June, it's for sale.
Its owner, Daphne Pulslifer, and her husband say it is time to leave that the house they moved into in 2003 and spent three years building because of "some unexpected opportunities."
The roughly 1,500-square-foot home, which sits at the end of a long driveway on approximately 43 acres of land, has been up for sale since June and, as of Thursday is priced at $690,000.
According to Pulsifer, an artist who calls herself primarily a sculptor, she and her husband wanted a home that related "to the Earth and really fit in its environment."
The house is powered by solar panels, has a well, a septic system and is connected to the internet via a system similar to a "house-sized" WiFi hotspot.
"Everyone wants to know if they can get internet here because there are no wires coming down the road, but they have great internet" said Josephine Power, the realtor tasked with helping Pulsifer sell the house.
"This would definitely be my most unique piece of real estate ever," she said Thursday.
Inside, the house features numerous custom touches designed and built by Pulsifer, including light fixtures, floor tiling, hand-built oak doors, wall tiling, woodwork -- much of it claimed from the property itself -- and wall construction with glass that allows ambient light from outside into the home, even at night.
"For better or for worse, it's always felt like my biggest sculpture to date," said Pulsifer, adding that in some places, there are pieces of wood that her then-younger children peeled the bark off of for construction.
As for what style the home is, Power said she sees elements of styles in the house from everywhere, from the American Southwest to English cottages.
Adding to its character, the home's driveway is named "The Road to Misery," which Pulsifer says is simply "a good joke."
Asked if there were any challenges living in a dome house, Pulsifer said storage can be limited because of the structure's shape.
"We think of things being square," she said of the furnishings and containers in most homes.
Pulsifer also said that there are sections of the dome's exterior that are a mix of a silicon material and a fiberglass substance and that it would be "ideal" for the new owner to make that layer homogenous.
That said, if someone does purchase the house and property, they will be able to refinish the house, rename the road and develop the land as they wish, and as permits allow.
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The couple is leaving no stipulations and, for Pulisfer, the home is where her heart was. She expects to find a future as bright as its interior ahead.
"I was talking to a friend who said, 'Maybe the new owner will let you come and visit,' and I said, 'I don't know if I need that,'" she explained.
"I hope the person who buys it likes it as much as we do. We're going to leave it with memories that we're going to cherish forever," she continued.
